ORIGIN

1982 Peugeot 505 S Turbodiesel

This 1982 505 S Turbodiesel wears a pleasing blue and has a manual transmission. The seller’s father purchased the car with 35,000 miles in 1985, and has only doubled that figure over the past 27 years. Included with sale are extensive parts and service documentation, as well as a large OEM parts stockpile. Find it for sale here on Craigslist in Spokane, Washington for $6,000

43 Comments

My family had an ’81 505 Turbo S that seemed to go forever. I do remember that it liked to eat speedo cables though. Those were a serious PITA to replace. We also had to do the glow plugs at one point as well. I think my dad traded it in with 250+K miles on it for a convertible 4 cyl Ford Mustang (fail.)

The thing I remember most about this car was the sound of the turbo. Once it was spooled up it sounded a bit like a jet engine and man would that car pull. It would easily bury the needle in on the speedometer (usually resulting in a broken cable and the needle reading “Veglia”)

Had a tired ’84 505 wagon – 4cyl with a 3spd? Automatic, about 15 years ago for a couple of years. Grey on black leather. It was really, really slow- and topped out at about 85. Made a great camping vehicle though- and was perfect for crusing along on a dirt road at 40mph without regard for the road conditions- that suspension would soak up anything.

I wouldn’t mind having this and the awesome fuel mileage that goes with it. Everywhere is far from here and the two main streets in town are two lane and this place is full of pokey drivers so I try not to be in a hurry as it’s bad for the blood pressure. This car would allow me the Zen of being one with the blue hairs, oohhhmmmmm…. but not for $6k

For the winters, bring a block heater! Dad had a 504 diesel, the seats were covered in leatherette type material that got brittle and fell apart. The mechanicals were bulletproof though, I think he got almost to 300K miles before the new england winters finished off the body. would probably still be going….

Seems every dashboard variation of the 505 had some amusing Frenchness to it. The coin drawer with the moneybag icon on it. The speedo labeled 10-25-40-55-70-85 to meet US regulations with the fewest numbers possible, clarity be damned. Or this early base dash, which answers the question “How much fuel do we have?” with “One… or maybe less than one.”

I had an 84 STI, and an 86 505 turbo wagon with this color interior. Very comfortable cars. I was commuting 60 miles each way per day on bumpy and curvy back roads in those days, hard to imagine a more comfortable-competent- and economical ride. The seats, shocks, and steering feel was fabulous.

At 72k miles, this engine’s just run in we used to say. We had these and 504′ estates as service vehicles and as long as you put oil, water (coolant) and Diesel in them, warm them up as you should do with each and every engine out of respect for the mechanics, these will go on and on and on and on. In Europe virtually extinct, because many adventurers would buy them from the scrapyard, drive through the sahara desert and sell them deep in Africa.

In 1982 a friend of mine bought one of these in the wagon version. It was really slow, was very pleasant to drive and seemed to just get you there. Then at about the third week of ownership the a/c quit working. The A/C never worked for more than a month in the 6 years my friend owned this car. It was obvious the a/c was a USA only pile of crap. If I remember correctly there were only about 6 fuses for the whole car. That ammeter belongs in the trash — it’s pretty scary to run all the electrical current for the car thru a crappy ammeter. These diesels are very tough, an old man I know drove one about 80 miles in 100 degree weather with a shredded top radiator hose. When he got home he parked it in his driveway and my friend who lived next door said it smelled terrible so he asked the old man about it. He said he hated that slow puke-wad so much he wanted to kill it so he just kept driving since it was a better alternative than walking. The next day he started it up and drove it to the scrap metal yard.

Looks like a great car. Awful for city use in traffic jams but one of the nicest Interstate long distance tourers you can imagine. Very comfortable ride, and actually with the turbodiesel not even that slow. It has tremendous torque, so passing is never an issue. Also, most of my diesel enthusiast friends swear by the fact that maintenance on this one is limited to oil changes every 7500 miles. No spark plugs, no ignition stuff…as long as you have decent compression these engines will soldier on forever.

Idaho car not driven in winter….ok. Those aren’t velour seat covers but snuggies. I’d like to see underneath the snuggies and the car. I don’t think you could have a more obtrusive Amp gauge. Must really provide pertinent data. Like it for $4500

These are staid but nicely styled old cars. But they will never be more than “special interest” automobiles that require that certain “Je ne c’est quoi” with the wrench (along with an unnatural need for self flagellation).

But “l’amour,” she knows no mountain is too high.

This one is probably the cleanest example of in this particular mark in the known universe. Good luck to the next owner.

Too cool. Who else on your block has a ’80s French car with a blue interior, a five-speed transmission, and a diesel engine? This car epitomizes everything I love about Bat–for me, at least, it’s all about unique, weird old cars that are reasonably obtainable, not $100k Astons and Masers.